Judgement Day
by ElodieAuvray
Summary: As Mac and Stella get ready for the birth of their first child, they and the rest of the team must prepare to mentor new CSI teams of their own. However, an unexpected attack brings the team closer together than ever before. SMacked, some D/L.
1. Memories

Judgement Day

A/N: This is supposed to be like the last ever episode of CSI: New York, because it has to end sometime (not that I want it to, obviously). Reviews greatly appreciated. Oh, and I know that the Empire State Building isn't directly across from the lab, but it is for now.

Disclaimer: CBS owns everything. Trust me, if I owned this, last season would so not have happened and we would be celebrating the marriage of Lindsay and Danny, and the birth of little Messers.

Chapter 1

Mac sat at his desk, sorting through the photos on his computer. Last year's Christmas party, the 4th July picnic, Lindsay's surprise birthday party, all the photos showing at least one person Mac was about to lose forever. Tomorrow, his CSIs were to be given rookie teams of their own, and he would be promoted to a desk job, doing nothing more than paperwork and making decisions. If only there was some way he could freeze time and keep everything the way it was.

He stopped suddenly at a picture taken one day shortly after Lindsay had joined the team. They were all grouped around a table at a bar, their arms around each other. Mac remembered asking a passing waiter to take it for them. Everybody looked so different. Lindsay's hair was shoulder length, falling around her young-looking face. Danny was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with his hair spiked up, giving the impression he had just left a skate park. Stella's hair was still a mass of curls, and Hawkes looked the same as ever. Flack's hair was just above his shoulders, framing his boyish face. The only person who was still exactly the same was Mac.

Mac imagined how each CSI would cope with their new teams. Lindsay and Stella would be gentle with the rookies, showing them the right way to go and helping them. Lindsay would probably be a little more lenient, although still firm. Danny would probably joke with them a lot, and try to scare them. Hawkes would be firm with his, and try to get the best out of them.

"You ready?"

Mac's train of thought was interrupted by Stella, whose head poked around the doorway. She smiled and came in, her bump visible underneath her smock top.

"I told you to take the day off!" Mac said sternly, getting up and hugging her.

"Come on, it's our last day together," she pleaded. "I'm not sitting in the apartment alone while you guys all have fun together. Besides, I'm sure she won't be coming out today," she added, rubbing her bump.

"He," corrected Mac. Stella smiled, until…

BANG!!

A noise like a million gunshots going off at once exploded through the building, mixed with the sound of glass shattering. Mac pulled Stella to the ground just in time, as debris fell and glass flew through the air like arrows. The ground shook underneath them, and small cracks appeared in the floor. After the dust cleared, Mac cautiously stood up, coughing as he inhaled a mouthful of dust.

He looked out the window, and his mouth dropped open.

Where the Empire State Building should have been, there was now nothing more than a towering ruin, smoke snaking out of it. Flames danced out of the remaining windows and leapt across the walls, igniting everything in their path.

Mac turned to Stella, who was now sitting up on the floor. All color had drained from her face, as she saw the spreading pool around her.


	2. Born From the Ashes

Chapter 2

A/N: I know that in reality, births aren't as short as this, but I don't want to be rambling on about it.

Mac pulled Stella to her feet and out of his office. Around them, people were getting to their feet, some with bleeding wounds, others cradling broken arms. Normally, Mac would have made sure that each and every person was seen to and treated, but, for now at least, there were only two people in the world that mattered to him. As they ran down the stairs, Stella stopped and collapsed onto the floor, clutching her stomach in pain. "Please don't make me go on," she moaned, her eyes full of tears. "Please, Mac…"

Mac kneeled down beside her and looked into her eyes. "I have to go and get Hawkes, Stella, okay? I'll only be a minute, I promise."

Mac felt like he'd just kicked a puppy. He knew that it was wrong to leave Stella, but without Hawkes, anything could happen. As he pushed open the door leading into the lab, he saw Hawkes and Sid, along with others from the morgue, treating the wounded with resources salvaged from the wreckage of the medicine cabinet.

"Hawkes!"

He looked up at the sound of his name, his dark eyes alert. Peeling off his latex gloves, he ran towards Mac.

"What is it?" he asked. The concern was clear in his usually calm voice.

"it's Stella. Her waters broke and the baby's not waiting. Please, you have to help." Mac's voice broke slightly as tears attempted to force their way out. He wasn't going to lose the one he loved again.

Hawkes followed Mac down the stairs and to the landing where Stella kneeled, her cheeks stained with tears. Hawkes knelt down beside her and pulled a fresh pair of gloves from his pocket.

"Stella, I need you to lie back and open your legs." Something about his quiet, reassuring voice seemed to calm Stella down. Her sobs subsided slightly, as she lay back and open her legs.

Mac tried not to concentrate as Stella's screams pierced the air, her pain going through him like a knife. All of a sudden, Stella's screams were silenced by something else - the crying of a newborn baby. He looked down and saw, in Hawkes' arms, a tiny baby, screaming at the top of her little lungs.

Stella burst into tears, but of happiness, rather than sadness. She hugged Mac as Hawkes pulled of his shirt and gently wrapped it around the little girl. Mac felt a tear run down his cheek as Stella cradled their daughter.

"She's beautiful," breathed Stella. "What should we call her?"

Mac thought hard; picking names wasn't something they had spent a lot of time on. It had to be something special.

"How about Star"

Stella looked into her daughter's eyes. "What do you think? Is your name going to be Star?"

She turned to Mac and smiled. "She's definitely a Star."


	3. Montana?

Chapter 3

A/N: It's a miracle!! CBS have finally listened to our pleas and given us a baby Messer AND a wedding!!! Miracles can happen!

A/N: I found out that listening to jazz helps you write. Shame any jazz I play on my sax sounds horrible.

Lindsay sighed as she scanned in another fingerprint, hoping that something would come up with a match soon. Suddenly, Danny appeared beside her and pulled her up into a hug. She was so surprised, Lindsay didn't even notice that her computer was flashing "Match".

"I thought you'd be out with the others!" said Danny, when he'd finally let her sit back down. Lindsay sighed.

"Gerrard made me do these," she replied, gesturing at the computer screen, which was now showing a photo of a distinctly ugly ex-con. "You know he has no human feelings in him at all."

Danny grinned as she clicked to print the rap sheet and stood up.

"Now, Mr Messer," she whispered, "You can do whatever you want-"

BANG!

Both were thrown back by an explosion that tore the windows to shreds and ripped through the walls. Danny held his hands over his head in a desperate attempt to shield himself from flying glass as he hit the floor, as Lindsay was thrown against the wall and to the floor.

Danny held his hands over his head until the floor stopped shaking and the glass rested on the floor. He slowly sat up, and looked at Lindsay.

"I think we're okay now, Montana."

Lindsay remained silent.

"Montana? Are you okay?" He crawled over to her unusually still body and gently shook her shoulder, rolling her over slightly. He gasped in shock.

Lindsay's forehead was covered in blood, most of which seemed to be seeping from a large, gaping cut above her eyebrow. Her cheeks were badly bruised and a small trickle of blood was escaping from her nose.

Danny ripped his shirt off, remembering how he had ripped it off so many years ago to bandage his broken fingers, after they were stamped on by an Irish drug lord. He held a piece of the sleeve to Lindsay's head, praying that the bleeding would soon stop. Around him, other CSIs and lab techs were standing up, some holding their heads in agony, others helping friends to their feet.

"Please, please don't leave me Montana," he prayed silently as he rocked backwards and forwards, cradling Lindsay in his arms. He looked around desperately. Where was Hawkes when you needed him?

*

Danny kicked the door to the stairwell open with his foot, Lindsay a dead weight in his arms. A few floors down, Danny froze. Either he was going crazy or there was a baby somewhere on the stairs.

"Hello?" he called out. "Anybody here?"

"Danny!"

"Mac!"

Danny jumped down the stairs two at a time, forgetting that Lindsay was in his arms and stumbling.

"What the-"

Danny blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. In front of him sat Stella, Hawkes and Mac. Nothing out of the ordinary there. What shocked him was that Stella was carefully cradling a tiny, newborn baby in her arms, wrapped in a jacket.

Stella smiled. "Danny, this is my baby girl, Star Bonasera-Taylor."


	4. Silence at the Precinct

Chapter 4

A/N: This may just be the last chapter I post unless I start getting reviews on this story. Please, review!!!!

Donald Flack stared at the photo on his desk of him and the rest of the team. He smiled as he remembered the good old days, teasing Messer about Montana and making jokes with the rest of the team. After tomorrow, they would all have their own rookie teams and, being supervisors, they wouldn't have time for anything fun like that.

"Hey Don!"

Flack momentarily forgot about his sadness as Jennifer Angell perched on the end of his desk, her long dark hair falling over her face. Flack kissed her on the nose.

"You still upset about the team?" she asked sympathetically. Flack nodded. "You'll still see them though, and it's not like they'll change. I mean, if Messer goes all serious, we'll know the world is ending!"

He laughed for the first time in days, amazing himself.

"Did you see a flash or something-"

Jennifer's words were drowned out by a large explosion ripping through the precinct. Flack instinctively pulled her under the desk as debris began to fall. Jennifer buried her head in Flack's chest as he held her close, determined to keep her safe. Only when the floor was still and no more debris fell did they dare to emerge.

Flack stuck his head out first, helping Jennifer to her feet. Her hand shook as she clasped her hand around his, their fingers entwined. Around them, the precinct was no longer recognisable. The mounds of paperwork were hidden by dust and glass, the once ringing phones had been silenced and the windows were now no more than empty panes.

"We have to find the others," said Flack. His voice cut through the silence like a knife, even although it was barely above a whisper. Jennifer tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him closer to her. "I'm going with you."

Together they climbed over the remains of desks, chairs and filing cabinets forced open by the blast. A beam of wood blocked their only escape. Flack kicked at it a few times, managing to knock it out of the way. The entrance to the stairwell was mostly clear, except for a few cables dangling loosely above their heads.

"Careful," warned Flack. "I don't want you getting electrocuted."

Jennifer obediently ducked as they stumbled over the shattered remains of the door, still determined not to let Flack's hand go. As they reached the first landing, Don suddenly stopped. He held a hand up to silence Jennifer.

"Can you hear that?"

The most beautiful sound ever was coming from above. Flack pulled Jennifer over a gap where there had once been a step, and gasped as they reached the next landing. Lying against the wall, surrounded by Danny, Mac and an unconscious Lindsay was Stella, cradling a tiny bundle of fabric in her arms. Coming from the bundle was the wonderful sound of a newborn baby.


End file.
